 | The TreesRush |
Writer(s): Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (see lyrics here) Released: January 1979 First Charted: -- Peak: 7 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.3 video, -- streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:By 1978, Rush put out five studio releases and a live album in less than five years. They’d cracked the top 40 on the album chart with 1977’s A Farewell to Kings and “Closer to the Heart”reached #76 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up album, 1978’s Hemispheres, slipped a bit. It would achieve platinum status like its predecessor, but hit a lower peak at #47 and didn’t chart any singles. Of course, there wasn’t much to choose from when it came to potential singles from the album. Hemispheres was made up of only four tracks, including the eighteen minute “Cygnus X-1, Book II,” the nine-minute “La Villag Strangiato.” The more reasonably-lenghted “Circumstances” was released as a single with “The Trees” as its B-side. The latter became one of the band’s most notable songs with “The Trees.” It became a staple in the band’s live performances. The lyrics tell a story of conflict in a forest between maple and oak trees. The maples want more sunlight, but the taller oak trees are hogging all the light. By song’s end, however, it is noted that “the trees are kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw.” WK The song has been interpreted as a commentary on oppression and a fight for rights. It has even been suggested that it is a statement about how Canadians (represented by the maple leaf) feel about Americans. SF The members of Rush were all Canadian. However, lyricist and drummer Neil Peart said, “It was just a flash…I saw a cartoon picture of these trees carrying on like fools. I though, ‘What if trees acted like people?’ So I saw it as a cartoon really, and wrote it that way.” WK Resources:Related Links:
First posted 7/28/2022. |
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